CN110113974A - Deep-fry basket oil-proof cover - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for making a safer fryer are disclosed. Methods and apparatus provided according to the present disclosure generally include a protective hood, either collapsible or non-collapsible, that may be temporarily or permanently attached to a deep fry basket. The disclosed shield can also be attached to household cooking items such as saucepans and frying pans.

Description

Deep fryer basket oil shield

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is related to US Patent Application Serial No. 14/944,168, filed by the same inventor on November 17, 2015, and entitled "Deep Fry Basket Oil Guard."

technical field

The present invention relates generally to fryers, and more particularly to a protective cover for protecting a user's hands while frying.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings are provided in conjunction with the following description to facilitate an understanding of the claimed subject matter.

1 is an isometric view of an exemplary frying basket for deep frying;

2A is a front isometric view of a fry basket with an example grease shield;

2B is a rear isometric view of a fry basket with an example grease shield;

3 is an isometric view of a fry basket with an example grease shield folded;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an exemplary collapsible oil shield; and

5 is an isometric view of a fry basket with yet another example oil shield.

Detailed ways

While the present disclosure has been described with reference to several illustrative embodiments, it should be clear that the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. Accordingly, the descriptions of the embodiments provided herein are illustrative of the disclosure and should not limit the scope of the disclosure as claimed. Additionally, while the following description refers to fryers, such as those used for onion rings and French fries, it should be understood that the present disclosure may include other types of food fryers and hot liquid containers in general.

A popular cooking method is to deep fry or deep fry many foods. A brief list of foods that can be fried includes various vegetables, French fries, chips, chicken, pork, beef, candy bars, ice cream, and more. Many other types of food are suitable for deep frying. Deep frying typically involves immersing the food in a high temperature fat-based solution, such as cooking oil (eg, canola oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, liquefied shortening, etc.), until the food is cooked, although other liquids may also be used, as water or even air.

While deep frying and frying pans for cooking baked goods are popular, the frying liquid is quite hot, usually above 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, foods such as potatoes and chicken parts are placed in metal baskets and placed in hot liquid by hand and cooked. Thus, for example, a splash of hot liquid due to an object falling into the liquid can accidentally land on body parts, especially hands, and cause serious injury. Therefore, a device for preventing hot splashes from reaching a user's hand is desired.

As set forth in the detailed description, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, systems, methods, and apparatus are provided for making a fryer safer. Referring to the drawings, methods and apparatus according to the present disclosure generally include a foldable or non-foldable shield that can be temporarily or permanently attached to the body/basket or to a handle of the fry basket. These shields can be made of plastic, metal, wood or other natural or synthetic materials.

In addition to safety, another advantage of the present disclosure is the simple and cost-effective retrofitting of existing fry baskets. The embodiments disclosed below may be described in terms of functional components and/or various processing steps. Each functional component may include any number of components configured to perform a specified function and achieve various results. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed apparatus and/or methods are not limited to food preparation, but can also be used to prevent serious injury when using any hot or hazardous liquid.

The detailed description herein utilizes various exemplary embodiments to help disclose the invention. While these exemplary embodiments have been described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be practiced, and other than those not specifically recited, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure Instances, different combinations and modifications of the structures, arrangements, applications, proportions, elements, materials or assemblies used in the practice of the present disclosure may vary or otherwise be specially adapted to particular circumstances, manufacturing specifications, design parameters or other operational requirements. , and are intended to be included in this disclosure. Accordingly, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustration only and not limitation.

In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the systems, methods, and apparatus disclosed herein discuss fried foods and safety considerations associated therewith. The terms "cooking" and "frying" and their formations are used interchangeably herein. Other mechanisms and devices for cooking and frying foods are also within the scope of this disclosure, such as boiling, blanching, steaming, poaching, simmering, soaking, and the like. For the sake of consistency, "frying" will be used throughout without limiting the cooking method used in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Additionally, in certain embodiments, water may be used in place of cooking oil to boil, poach, blanch, or otherwise cook certain foods. Food is placed in the basket and cooked in hot water in a water chamber, which replaces the oil chamber. Such foods that can be cooked by this method include pasta products and vegetables.

Examples of heating mechanisms for use in conjunction with maintaining and regulating oil temperature in accordance with the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, various gas and electrical heating elements, as well as other known or yet-to-be known heating mechanisms for heating oil.

According to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the devices used herein are available in a variety of sizes and/or capacities. For example, the device is available in commercial sizes for use by restaurants and other food frying establishments, as well as large food manufacturers and producers who must produce hundreds or even thousands of pounds of fried food per day. The size of commercial equipment can vary depending on the desired capacity of the equipment. Other embodiments of the present invention provide devices suitable for use in small businesses and food stalls or even in a user's home. For example, an apparatus according to the present invention may be configured to be easily "retrofitted" into existing kitchen cooking equipment and appliances, such as frying pans. Those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments of the present invention may include floor models, non-porous countertop models, pressure fryer models, and home models.

Additionally, this personal use device can produce as little as one serving and can be configured to be placed on a work surface. The materials used for the various components described herein may be various heat resistant materials, such as high temperature plastics, ceramics, metals, etc., that are not adversely affected by the temperature of the oil and the heating elements described herein. All sizes and capacities of the devices discussed are within the scope of the present invention.

Devices according to the present disclosure are generally easy to clean. For example, in some embodiments, various components, such as the shields disclosed herein, are removable or hinged to facilitate cleaning. For example, the shield can be rotated on a hinge to provide access to hard-to-reach and clean locations. In other embodiments, components of the shield or the entire shield may be removable to facilitate cleaning.

The baskets of the various embodiments disclosed herein can have any shape or size (eg, circular, square, rectangular, or other shapes). This placement can occur in any suitable manner. For example, food may simply be manually placed into the basket by the operator. Alternatively, the placement of the food can be automated, such as by robotic/robotic arms, conveyors, and transport mechanisms that transport the food. In various embodiments, baskets according to the present invention may be designed for specific food types, such as baskets with vertical basket slots for "flat" foods (eg, hash browns, chicken patties, etc.). For hash browns, for example, it may be necessary to keep the pie upright.

Figure 1 shows a frying basket 100 including a handle 110, a metal basket/container 120 which itself includes a reinforced outer edge 130, and hooks 140 for, for example, the The basket hangs from the side of the fryer tank. Typically, all parts of fry basket 100 are made of stainless steel. The food is placed in the basket 120 and into the hot oil until the oil completely covers the food, at which point the fryer basket 100 is partially or completely submerged for a predetermined time, hanging from the side of the fryer tank.

Figure 2A shows a partial front view of the guarded fry basket 200a. In FIG. 2A , an exemplary collapsible oil shield includes a fixed portion 250a and a folded portion 250b that is removably/removably/temporarily attached to the basket/container 220 by a flexible, resilient or spring-loaded clamp 260. (The term "fixed" is used to indicate that once attached, the fixed portion 250a does not move relative to the frying basket.) The fixed portion 250a of the oil shield is clamped to the rim 230 of the basket 220 so as to be between the handle 210 and the basket 220. form a wall. The wall need not be made of a solid material, it could itself be perforated, similar to the perforated sheet used in pan lids or splash screens used to cover frying pans and deep fryers. In such embodiments, the user can see through the protective wall and is also protected from hot liquid splashes. In this embodiment, the folded portion 250b of the oil shield can remain in the same plane as the fixed portion 250a, or can be rotated about the axis 270 to be close to or on the handle 210, as shown in FIG. 3 . In various embodiments, the oil shield can be made in one piece, and no part of the oil shield can rotate relative to another part. In some embodiments, the monolithic sheet can be bent to form two portions 250a and 250b in two different planes, but fixed relative to each other. In other embodiments, similar oil shields may be placed on more than one side of the oil shield.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, various known mechanisms 280 may assist the folded portion 250b of the oil shield to stay in any desired position relative to the fixed portion 250a. In various embodiments, the mechanism 280 may act as a hinge and/or even a position locking mechanism. In some embodiments, clamp 260 may be made of metal, plastic, or any other material suitable for making a semi-rigid clamp that grips edge 230 due to elastic deformation.

Figure 2B shows a partial rear view of the shielded fry basket 200b. In FIG. 2B , the exemplary collapsible oil shield includes a fixed portion 250a and a folded portion 250b that are removably/removably/temporarily attached to the basket 220 by a flexible spring-loaded or resilient clamp 265 . The fixing portion 250a of the oil shield is clamped to the edge 230 of the basket 220 to form a protective wall between the handle 210 and the basket 220 . In this embodiment, the folded portion 250b of the oil shield can remain in the same plane as the fixed portion 250a, or can be rotated about the axis 270 to be close to or on the handle 210. In this embodiment, an additional clamp 275 is also used to clamp the fixing portion 250a of the oil shield to the handle 210. In various embodiments, the folded portion 250b of the oil shield may also have one or more clips similar to the clips 275 to be attached to the handle 210 when folded and placed on the handle 210 .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, various known mechanisms 280 may assist the folded portion 250b of the oil shield to stay in any desired position relative to the fixed portion 250a. In various embodiments, the mechanism 280 may act as a hinge and/or even a position locking mechanism. In some embodiments, the clamp 265 may be made of metal, plastic, or any other material suitable for making a clamp that can be gripped and attached to the edge 230 .

Figure 3 shows a shielded fry basket 300 with a collapsible grease shield. In FIG. 3 , the foldable portion 350b of the oil shield is rotated about the shaft 370 and is placed on the handle 310 . The fixed portion 350a of the oil shield is clamped to the edge of the basket/container 320 to form a protective wall between the handle 310 and the basket 320 and prevent any hot liquid from splashing onto the hands of the user holding the handle 310. The foldable shield as shown in Figure 3 makes it easy to stack the baskets inside each other and provides a better view of the food in the baskets.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an exemplary collapsible oil shield 400 . In this embodiment, a solid or spring loaded clamp 460 for attaching the oil shield 400 to the frying basket is attached to or as part of the fixed portion 450a of the oil shield 400 . In this embodiment, the additional clamp 475 is also used to clamp the fixed portion 450a of the oil shield 400 to the basket handle. In various embodiments, the folded portion 450b of the oil shield may also have a clip similar to the clip 475 to be attached to the basket handle when folded and placed on the basket handle. As shown in FIG. 4 , the entire rotation axis 470 of the folded portion 450b relative to the fixed portion 450a may be a hinge or a plurality of hinges made of plastic or metal or other materials. In this embodiment, the hinge is made of only a thin plastic sheet that is attached to or part of the fixed portion 450a and the folded portion 450b.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, various known mechanisms 480 may help the folded portion 450b of the oil shield 400 to stay in any desired position relative to the fixed portion 450a. In various embodiments, the mechanism 480 may act as a hinge and/or even a position locking mechanism. In some embodiments, the clamps 460 may be made of metal, plastic, or any other material suitable for making clamps that can grip the edges of the fry basket.

FIG. 5 shows an isometric view of the guarded fry basket 500 . In this embodiment, the oil shield 550 is similar to a sword cross guard and is collapsible, wherein the top and bottom of the oil shield 550 rotate relative to each other about an axis 570, as shown in FIG. 3, or are not collapsible and made of, for example, a single piece of hard plastic or metal. In the embodiment of FIG. 5 , handle 510 passes through opening 575 . In other embodiments, the open slot 575 may extend to one edge of the oil shield 550 to allow the handle 510 attached to the basket/container 520 to enter the oil shield 550 laterally. In some foldable embodiments, the top of the oil shield 550 may also have a small clip similar to the clip 275 . In some embodiments, the single-piece sheet can be bent into two different planes, such that one plane can be placed on the handle 510 while the other acts as a protective wall.

In various embodiments, the oil shield may be of a desired height and width to even block hot droplets from flying from the outside and around the fry basket to the user's hands. The oil guards disclosed above, if not protecting the handle, can be placed on either side of the frying basket; however, it is preferred to use an oil guard to at least protect the handle from splashing fluid.

Various principles of the present invention have been described in the exemplary embodiments. However, many combinations and modifications of the above-described structures, arrangements, proportions, elements, materials and components used in the practice of the present invention may be changed without departing from these principles, other than those not specifically described. Various embodiments have been described as including automatic processes, but these processes may be performed manually without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Changes may be made to the claimed invention in light of the above detailed description. While the foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed above is described in the text, the claimed invention can be practiced in a variety of ways. The details of the system may vary widely in its implementation details while still being encompassed by the claimed invention disclosed herein.

The use of a specific term in describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the term is redefined herein to be limited to any specific feature, feature or aspect of the invention to which the term is associated. In general, the terms used in the claims should not be construed to limit the claimed invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines those terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the claimed invention includes not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or carrying out the claimed invention.

The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the preparation and use of the structures of the present invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the appended claims. It should also be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that, in general, the terms used herein, especially the appended claims (eg, the body of the appended claims) are generally intended to be "open-ended" terms (eg, the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific quantity is intended to be recited in the claim, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, use of these words should not be construed to mean that a claim recitation introduced by the indefinite article "a (a/an)" restricts any particular claim containing such an introduced claim recitation to containing only one of that recitation invention, even when the same claim includes the introductory words "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a(a/an)" (e.g., "a(a/an)" usually should be construed to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same is true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. Even if an introductory claim recitation is expressly recited regarding "a particular number", one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that such recitation should generally be construed to mean at least one of the recited number (eg, without other modification, The direct expression "two statements" generally means at least two statements, or two or more statements). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention similar to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, typically such syntactic structures are performed in the sense that one of ordinary skill in the art is expected to understand this convention (eg, "with A "A system of at least one of , B and C" will include, but is not limited to, having A only, having B only, having C only, having A and B, A and C, B and C, and/or having A, B and C, etc. system). It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that, whether in the specification, claims or drawings, virtually any inflection conjunction and/or phrase giving two or more alternatives should be construed as intended to contemplate inclusion of those items the possibility of one of these terms, either or both. For example, the phrase "A or B" would be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B".

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various aspects included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation arranged so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims (20)

1. A protective deep fryer basket comprising: a deep fry basket having a handle and a container; A single-piece or multi-piece oil shield; and Wherein, the single-piece or multi-piece oil shield is permanently or detachably attached to the deep fry basket container, so that the oil shield is inside the deep fry basket container when hot fluid droplets escape from the deep fry basket. A protective wall is formed on the path that flies out. 2. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 1, wherein the multi-piece oil shield is collapsible. 3. The protected deep fry basket of claim 1, wherein the oil shield has a clip for attaching to the rim of the container of the deep fry basket, or to the handle, or to to both. 4. The shielded deep fry basket of claim 1, wherein the oil shield is positioned anywhere around the receptacle of the deep fry basket. 5. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 1, wherein the multi-piece oil shield has two parts and is collapsible, and wherein a portion of the oil shield is attached to the deep fry The container of the basket, the other part rotates relative to the connected part. 6. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 1, wherein the oil shield is made from a curved or substantially flat sheet of material. 7. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 1, wherein the oil shield is made of plastic, metal, wood, or any other natural or synthetic material. 8. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 1, wherein the oil guard is also permanently or removably attached to the handle. 9. A protective deep fryer basket comprising: a deep fry basket having a handle and a container; A single-piece or multi-piece oil shield; and Wherein, the single-piece or multi-piece oil shield is permanently or detachably attached to the handle of the deep fry basket, so that the oil shield is inside the container of the deep fry basket where hot fluid drips from Or a protective wall is formed around the path that flies out. 10. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the multi-piece oil shield is collapsible. 11. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the oil shield has a slot through which the handle passes. 12. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the oil shield has a clip for connecting to the handle. 13. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the multi-piece oil shield has two parts and is collapsible, and wherein a portion of the oil shield is connected to the handle. 14. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the oil shield is made from a substantially flat or curved sheet of material. 15. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the oil shield is made of plastic, metal, wood, or any other natural or synthetic material. 16. The shielded deep fryer basket of claim 9, wherein the oil shield is made of solid or perforated material. 17. An oil shield for a deep fry basket, the oil shield comprising: A single-piece or multi-piece substantially flat sheet of material, wherein the single- or multi-piece oil shield is adapted to be permanently or removably attached to the deep-frying basket's receptacle and/or deep-frying basket at least one side of the handle such that the oil shield forms a protective wall on the path of hot fluid droplets flying out of the interior of or around the deep fry basket towards the hand of the user holding the handle. 18. The oil shield of claim 17, wherein the oil shield has one or more clips for attachment to a container of the deep fry basket, a handle of the deep fry basket, or the like. both. 19. The oil shield of claim 17, wherein the multi-piece oil shield is foldable or non-foldable. 20. The oil shield of claim 17, wherein the one-piece oil shield is fabricated from a substantially flat or curved sheet of material.